Dalai Lama brings wisdom to U-M

The Dalai Lama offered his trademark humor and humility in answering questions submitted from a crowd of more than 7,000 gathered for a teaching session Sunday at the University of Michigan.

Sarah Oliai, president of the MSU chapter of Students for a Free Tibet, was among the students who heard the Dalai Lama speak.

“It was a wonderful speech, I’m glad it was open to the public so that I and many others could attend,” she said.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader continued to build on the Buddhist teachings of wisdom and compassion he touched on during Saturday’s teaching session. In his answers, he didn’t propose the quick fixes that modern culture has come to expect from Dr. Phil and other tough-love dispensing talk show hosts.

“We have to deal with the causes and conditions of that anger,” he said in response to a question about living with someone who is angry and argumentative. He elicited large laughs for his long, contemplative pause before answering.

Outside of Crisler Arena, where the Dalai Lama spoke, pro-Chinese demonstrators held signs and waved Chinese flags. Many wore T-shirts that read “Support Beijing 2008,” a reference to the upcoming summer Olympics.

Oliai said she disagreed with the protesters’ opinions but respected their right to speak.

“They have every right to express their opinions,” she said. “We can choose to agree or disagree.”

On Sunday afternoon, police estimated the crowd of demonstrators at 200. As they rallied, a small airplane flew overhead pulling a banner that read: “Dalai Lama Please Stop Attacking Olympic Flame.”

The Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959 in Tibet, arrived in the U.S. on April 10, a day after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San Francisco in protest of China’s treatment of its people.

The Dalai Lama has denied Chinese claims that he and his followers have used the run-up to the Olympics to foment unrest.

The Sunday morning session was the Dalai Lama’s final teaching session of the weekend. He also delivered a speech in the basketball arena on sustainability Sunday afternoon, sponsored by the university’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Oliai, who also attended the speech on sustainability, said the Dalai Lama made a great choice to come to Michigan.

“I think one of the most important points he made was promoting the environment,” she said. “We’re responsible for protecting the planet, because it’s our home.”

On Saturday, he encouraged people to preserve their own religious traditions while respecting others with differing beliefs. He expanded on that theme on Sunday in response to a question about whether someone should convert to Buddhism.

“Among Tibetans, some are Muslim as far as religion is concerned, not Buddhism, but they live a life that is very much in the spirit of Buddhist culture. And maybe there is an individual Buddhist in the Christian culture,” he said. “That’s OK, isn’t it?”

Still, he said, there is a freedom and right to choose for those who have practiced their faith and do not find it effective.

The Dalai Lama is scheduled to talk with Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky on Monday in Michigan and speak at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., on Tuesday.

Staff writer Mike Blasky contributed to this report.